Nest



A. C. HITCHCOCK.

NEST.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30,192!- Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

ASHLAND C. HITCHCOCK, OF TISCOTT, KANSAS.

NEST.

Application filed March 30, 1921.

T0 aZZ whom it may, concern:

Be it known that. I. AsHLANn C. HITCH- cocx. a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Tescott. in the county of Ottawa and State ofKansas. have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Nests, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to nests for hens and one object of the inventionis to prov de a nest which will prevent the hen occupying it from beingdisturbed while she is in the nest. A further object of the invention isto provide means whereby the entrance of a hen into the nest will beinvited, and exlt therefrom will be facilitated but her exit through theentrance will be prevented.

Other will appear in the description.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is an elevation of my improvednest in its operative position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section;

3 is a plan view.

In carrying out my invention, I provlde a shelf or platform 1 which maybe conveniently and. preferably, is set within an opening 2 in a fenceor partition 3 which partition may be within a hen house. Upon the shelf1, I provide the spaced posts or brackets 4 and between the said posts Ipivotally mount a box 5. This box may be of any inexpensive material.and sheet metal may be advantageously employed. The box is preferablyrectangular with its longitudinal dimension in the line of the fence orpartition 3 and its transverse dimension disposed at an angle to thepartition. The pivots by which the box is mounted upon the posts 4 aresecured in the sides of the box at the center of the same and at theopposite sides thereof. Both ends of the box are closed, as shown at 6,but in each side is a door opening 7. the said openings, however, beingdisposed at opposite ends of the box. A door 8 is arranged to cover eachopening and each door is hingedly mounted upon the box at the adjacentend of the same so that the free edge of the door will be disposedtoward the center of the box. The doors are mounted so as to movefreely, and extending across the top of the box is a coupling bar orlink 9 which has its opposite ends loosely pivoted to the upper cornersof the free ends of the respectively adjacent doors.

incidental objects of the invention course of the followingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921. Serial No. 456,923.

IVithin the box and between the pivotal pointthereof and the entranceend thereof, is a transverse cleat or rail 10, the space between thesaid rail and the nearer end of the box being filled or partly filledwith sand or some similar material, as indicated at 11, so that the saidend of the box will be overweighted and the box will normally assume theposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2. Between the cleat or rail 10 andthe more remote end of the box, the nest, indicated at 12. is made and anest egg 13 is placed therein.

Normally, the box will assume the position shown in Fig. 1 and in fulllines in F ig. 2, with the entrance end thereof lowered. Inasmuch as thedoors 8 are each hinged at the end of the box, the tilted position ofthe box will cause the door 8, at the entrance end, to swing open Whilethe door at the exit end will be drawn to closed position against theside of the box, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. The coupling bar or link 9forces the doors to move simultaneously so that the entrance and theexit openings cannot both be fully uncovered at one time.

on a hen enters the box, she will at once step over the rail 10 andoccupy the nest 12, her weight then overcoming the weight 11 so that thebox will assume the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, thistilting of the box causing the exit door to swing to open position whilethe entrance door will close. When the hen leaves the nest through theexit door opening the nest will return to the initial position inasmuchas it is then relieved of the weight of the hen 11 is free to act. Thedevice is exceedingly simple and inexpensive and is eiliclent in itsoperation. By its use, the laying hens are free from annoyance andinasmuch as they cannot enter and leave at the same side the workinghens will soon be all together at one side of the partition, while thedrones will be at the opposite side, and the owner of the brood will bethereby enabled to intelligently select the fowls desirable for layingand others for fattening for the market. This separation of the broodwill obviously be accomplished with out any attention upon the part ofthe owner.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A nest comprising a receptacle mounted for tilting movement andprovided in its opposite sides at its opposite ends with outwardlyswinging doors.

2. A nest comprisinga' receptacle mounted between its ends for tiltingmovement and 7 provided in its opposite sides at its opposite ends withdoor openings, doors hinged at the ends of the receptacle spectiveopenings, and a coupling between the free edges of the doors.

3. A nest comprising a receptacle having closed ends and having a dooropening in each side at one end thereof, means within the receptacle tohold the same normally in one position; doors hinged upon the oppositesidesof the receptacleat the opposite ends to cover the rethereof toclose the respectively adjacent door openings, and a coupling barextending "across the receptacle and having its oppo site ends looselypivoted to the free ends of the respective doors.

l. A nest comprising a receptacle mounted for tilting movement, doors atthe opposite sides of the receptacle arranged to swing to open positionas the respective side of the receptacle lowers, and

a couplingconnectingthe free edges of the doors Iwherehy one other dooropens. I

In testimon whereof I affix my signature.

G. HITCHCOCK. [1,. s.]

door will close as the laterally swinging

